VICTORIA FALLS – The Victoria Falls town council is on a drive to turn around the town into a world class tourist attraction, the town’s mayor, Nkosilathi Jiyane has said.

In an interview with The Real Change Times on Monday, Mayor Jiyane said Victoria Falls town council had come up with a master plan to transform the town into one of the best resort towns in the world.“It is a lengthy but ambitious process, which at the end of the day we are going to be very proud
of,” Mayor Jiyane said.

He said in the master plan, the town council was working with the government, Hwange Rural District Council, Hwange National Parks and the Forestry Commission. Mayor Jiyane said Victoria Falls would at the end create more employment opportunities for the people. “Ninety-nine percent of the
economic activity is based on tourism and as a result we want the tourism industry to grow and create a better life for the communities and the people of Zimbabwe at large,” he said.

Situated at the border with Zambia, the Victoria Falls is one of the seventh wonders of the world. It is well-known for attracting tourists from every corner of the world. It has the highest concentration of hotels in Africa. They are total of 12 world-class hotels and 25 lodges. Mayor Jiyane said the town council was working on decongesting the border post by constructing a “transtop” whereby all vehicles would be cleared before proceeding to neighbouring Zambia.

Victoria Falls has a population of about 65 000 people and has two residential suburbs, Chinotimba and Mkhosana. However, Mayor Jiyane said the correct population figures were “floating as most people in the town were mostly in transit”. He said the town had managed to create a very conducive working environment with the Zimbabwe Republic Police.

"We have the tourism police who make the people’s stay in the resort town very safe. People can freely move around during the night peacefully,” he said. The town council has 11 councillors all from the MDC and employs 286 employees. Mayor Jiyane who is the councillor for Ward 8 has been a councillor since 2001. In the MDC, Mayor Jiyane is the district vice-chairperson for Hwange East.

Mayor Jiyane said the council was also in constant interaction with the private sector and the people in general through its website. “We have discovered that the internet is one of the best, innovative, critical and a fast form of communication, that is why we have embraced it,” he said.
Mayor Jiyane said the council was also undertaking various projects to improve service delivery.

“We have managed to upgrade our water delivery systems and now the quality of the water has improved. Our sewer system is also up to scratch and that is why in 2008, we were the only city that did not record any cholera outbreaks,” said Mayor Jiyane. He also said the council was in the process of planting trees in order to protect the environment and maintain the town as natural as possible.

“However, our biggest challenge is wood poaching, which is on the increase. “We are working with the police to ensure that this poaching does not get out of hand and affect the environment,” said Mayor Jiyane.